Games



United States Patent 3,090,623 GAMES Patrick J. Dugan, 2138 Woodville Road, Toledo, Ohio Filed Apr. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 803,533 18 Claims. (Cl. 273142) This invention relates to a new and improved wheel for playing many different types of games. More particularly, it deals with a freely manually spun wheel with a plurality of stalls or pockets onto which a lesser plurality of balls are projected to ultimately come to rest in the stalls or pockets. These stalls or pockets are marked according to different figures, symbols or values, such as animals and/or birds for children or as are on playing cards'with the scoring being based on the values corresponding to thepockets into which the ball ultimately come to rest.

Previously, such wheels were often limited to the use of a single ball in order to prevent misplays or errors by the piling of two or more balls in one or between two adjacent ball filled pockets.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a simple, eflicient, economic, effective, fanciful and fascinating game wheel which may be used to simulate card games.

Another object is to produce such a game wheel in which a plurality of balls may be simultaneously projected with fewer or no misplays caused by balls piling in or between pockets on the wheel.

Another object is to provide mechanical means for the delivery of a plurality of balls to such a game wheel.

Another object is to provide such a game wheel with illuminated indications for each of the pockets.

This invention is an improvement and continuation-inpart of the invention described in the Patrick J. Dugan copending application Serial No. 575,102 filed March 30, 1956 for Games now abandoned.

Generally speaking, the game wheel of this invention comprises a dish or bowl shaped support in which the wheel is spun is a horizontal plane on a vertical axle projecting up from the bottom center of the support, and which includes a. circular raceway around the wheel in which one or preferably a plurality of balls are projected for ultimately coming to rest in separate pockets or stalls provided therefor on the wheel. The bowl support may be provided with a central depression area into which the wheel fits so that its peripheral edge of the wheel is flush with the edge of depression. Near this peripheral edge is provided an endless circumferential series of pockets or stalls each of which is of such a size to retain one and only one ball. Between the outer edge of each of the pockets and the edge of the wheel there preferably may be provided a smooth flange upon the surface of which opposite each pocket may be inscribed, or marked difierent symbols or indications corresponding to each pocket. prise different colored translucent or transparent windows flush with the surface of the flange which are illuminated by a light source below the wheel. At the outer end of the partitions separating each of the series of pockets there is provided means, such as a projection or pin, to obstruct and deflect balls which might come to prevent piling of balls outside of or between the pockets as long as the wheel is still turning. At the periphery of the bowl support there may be provided a mechanical means, such as a resiliently urged plunger, in a path tangential to the raceway for projecting a plurality of balls into the raceway.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best If desired, these indications may com- 7 and around the raceway 15.

3,090,623 Patented May 21, 1963 ice understood by reference to the following description 'of several embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a game wheel according to this invention, with parts broken away showing a light source under the wheel and a mechanical ball projector tangent to the bowl support in which the wheel is mounted;

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of this invention similar to FIG. 1 without a light source beneath'the wheel, with part thereof shown in section corresponding to a out along the line III-'I of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line IIIIII of FIG. 1, showing the mechanical ball projecting means at the periphery of the raceway around the wheel.

FIG. 4 is a further enlarged plan view of part of a sector of the wheel of FIG. 1 showing two balls in two of the pockets thereof, indicating windows adjacent each pocket, and the projections at the ends of the partition between each pocket to prevent the balls from piling as is shown in the balls in dotted circles;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the wheel similar to and taken along line VV of 'FIG. 4, showing holes in the bottom of the pockets for light from the light source to shine therethrough; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5, but of a solid wheel like that shown in FIG. 2, showing another type of pin projection means for preventing the piling of balls.

Referring to the drawings, the support for the particular embodiments shown of the game wheel of this invention may comprise a deep dish type member 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 or a shallow dish type member 11 as shown in FIG. 2, at the flat base of which there may be provided three equal angularly spaced level adjusting legs or feet 12 which may comprise threaded rubber headed bolts with a pair of nuts 13 (see FIG. 2) threaded thereon for adjusting their height for leveling on the surface 14 of a table, the game wheel 40 or 41 mounted in a central depression 33 in said bowl or dish support 10 'or 11.

Around the periphery of the support 10 or 11 there is provided a circularly undercut inwardly open groove or raceway 15 tangentially into which one or preferably a plurality of equally sized balls 20 may be projected from a channel, duct or tube 21. This tube 21 may terminate in a sub-frame or projection portion 22 on the outside rim of the bowl support 10 or 11, which portion 22 may be provided with a plunger 25 having a manual pull knob 26 to compress a spring 27 which operates the plunger 25 when the knob 26 is released against the action of a cushioning spring 28 to cause the hammer end 29 of the plunger 25 to strike the ball at the inner and lower end of the plurality of the balls 20 which have been placed in the tube 21 to project all of the balls into These balls 20 may be dropped to the tube 21 through a feed duct or aperture '30 provided in the top of the edge of the support 10 or 11, which aperture is located at a sufiicient distance from the normal rest position for the hammer end 29 of the plunger 25 to provide room between it and the aperture for at least a plurality of balls 20, herein shown to be five. The tunnel or tube 21 is preferably placed at a slightly downward angle from the port or aperture 30 to the plunger end 29 so that the balls dropped therein will roll down against the hammer 29 or the stop 31 provided at the end of the tube 21 adjacent said hammer end 29. Thus, after the knob 26 is pulled to compress the spring 27 and released, to project all the balls in the tube 21 out into the raceway 15, the ball or balls 20 will continue to roll around in the circular raceway until they gradually lose speed and roll down the inclined upper inner surface 32 of the support and onto the rotating wheel 40 or "41 in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, mounted in the central depression 33 of the support 10 or 11. If'desired, the free rolling path of these balls 20 over the surface 32 may be interrupted by diamond or other shaped projections 37 thereonto increase the impredictability of the path and the random movement of the balls.

From thecenter of the bottom 34 of the support 10 or 11 there is mounted a vertical axle 35 which may be fixed or bolted to the bottom 34, the upper end of which axle or shaft 35 may be concave to provide a seat for a single ball bearing '36 upon which the hub 42 of the wheel 40 or 41 may rest and spin. If desired, in smaller game wheels, the ball bearing 36 may be replaced by a pin (not shown) without departing from the scope of this invention. These ball or point contacts reduce the friction as much as possible between the stationary axle 35 and the wheel 40 or 41 to increase the ease and/or time for the spinof the wheel. The inner end 44 of the hole 43 in the hub 42, preferably is conical as shown in FIG. 2, and a fine oil hole 45 may be provided in the top center of the hub communicating with the ball bearing 36 and shaft 35 for lubrication purposes. The wheel 40 or 41 thus has its hub 42 slid over the vertical stub axle or shaft 35, so it can be readily removed for access to the lock nuts 13 for leveling the support. The web of the wheel '40 or 41 may be mounted on the sleeve portion 46 of the hub by means of a ring nut 47 or any other suitable means, such as crimping (not shown). The upper end of the hub 42. preferably may be provided with outwardly projecting handles or arms 48 for more easy manual spinning of the wheel.

' Short of the periphery of the wheel 40 or 41 there may be provided a plurality of pockets or stalls 50, of such size that one. and only one ball can come to rest in each pocket. These pockets 50 may be arranged in an endless circumferential series and may be placed sufiiciently close together so that they may be formed by narrow radial partitions 51 in a circumferential grOOVe 52 near the periphery of the wheel 40 or 41. Around the outside of the pockets or groove 51 there may be provided a peripheral flange 53 which is preferably flush with the edge of the central depression 33 and the surface 32, and which also may be at the same incline or slope as said surface 32 to be a continuation thereof so that the balls :20 will more easily roll from the surface 32 onto the flange 53 of the wheel. The upper surface of this flange portion 53 is smooth, and may even be polished, although indications may be marked thereon, such as by paint, ink, printing, or decalcomanias, opposite each of the pockets 50. These indications may correspond, for example, in a wheel avith fifty-two pockets, to the symbol of each of the fifty-two different cards of a deck of playing cards, or to different colors or alternate sequences of the same group of colors, or of numbers, letters, animals, birds, or any other identifying symbols.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of sections of such game wheels, the indications opposite each of the pockets 50 may comprise separate translucent inserts or windows 55, set in stepped-holes 56, cut or formed in the flange 53, so that light from a light source or lamp 60 below the periphery of the wheel 40 may shine up through the windows 55 to more clearly indicate the value, symbol and/or color indication corresponding to each of the pockets 50. In the particular embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, this light source 60 is shown to comprise a fluorescent type circular tube which may be mounted in the deeper dish-shaped support and may be electrically connected to a plug 61 (see FIG. 1) for connection with an electric extension cord 62 by means of a socket 63 at one end of the cord 62 to fit the plug 61 and a standard type two prong plug 64 at the other end for connection with a standard electric power support 10. It is not necessary, however, that an electric light source of the circular tube type 60 be employed,

in that a single bulb (not shown) may be placed below the surface 14, provided the bottom 34 of the, support 10 or 1 1 is translucent or light conductive as well as the surface 14 between it and the bulb. Thus, the solid wheel 41 shown in FIG. 2 could be replaced by the windowed wheel 40 in FIG. 1 without departingfrom the scope of this invention.

Furthermore in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the bottoms of each of the pockets or stalls 50 may be provided with a hole 58, so that light from the source 60 may shine through these holes for further illuminating the pocket and indicating which holes are covered by the balls 20 for more clearly showing the location of the balls when they come to rest in the pockets 50 in the wheel 40. V

In order to reduce and prevent misplays and piling of the balls 20 as shown for the dotted ball 20' in FIG. 4, that is, when the ball 20 lodges or comes to rest out of a pocket between two balls 20 in adjacent pockets, there are provided a series of projections 70 (or 71 in FIG. 6) at the ends of the partitions 51 between each of the pockets 50, which projections or bumps may be molded into the cast wheel 41 as shown in FIG. 2, or may be provided as separate headed pins as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, or as upwardly extending posts 71 as shown in FIG. 6. The pins or posts in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 may be driven or screwed into holes 72 provided in the inner edge of the flange 53 or outer wall of the groove 52 of the wheel 40 or 41 at the outer ends of the partition 51. Thus the projections 70 or 71 prevent the dotted balls 20" shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 from reaching a stable position by becoming wedged between two balls 20 in ad-' jacent pockets 50 as shown for dotted ball 20' in FIG. 4, and instead deflect the balls while the wheel 40 or 41 is in motion into another and empty pocket 50.

It is important that the size of each of the pockets 50 is such that one and only one ball 20 can rest therein. For example, in the particular embodiments shown herein, the pockets 50 are substantially rectangular in shape, that is trapezoidal sectors, and the size of the wheel 40 or 41 depends upon the size of the balls and the number of pockets to be employed. For a maximum number of pockets on a wheel with a given diameter balls, the radial center line of each of the pockets must be spaced along the circumferential center of the groove 52 a distance at least slightly greater than twice the radius of the balls, so the balls will not contact each other when in adjacent pockets. Also the projections or pins 70 or 71 should be spaced more than twice the radius of said balls particularly if they are as high as the radius of said balls, however generally, they are less than half the radius of said balls. The pockets then should have a depth less than the radius of the balls so that the ballswill not become wedged between the sides or partitions 53 but will ride on the top edges of the partitions and may thereby also be easily picked up with the fingers after a play has been completed. The width of the pockets must correspondingly be between about onceyor twice the radius of the balls, and the length of the are preferably between about two or three times the radius of the balls, so that only one ball will fit in each pocket. A preferred dimension for the pockets is one in which the depth of the pocket is about 0.35 times the radius of the balls, and the width of the pocket is about 0.9 times the diameter of the balls, the length of the pocket is about 1.2 times the diameter of the balls, and the height of the projections 70 Or 71 is less than one quarter the radius of the balls. r

In playing the game of this invention the balls are rolled arormd the raceway 15, and the wheel 40 or 41 is pockets usually rotated in the opposite direction from that of the balls 20 projected into the circular path of the raceway 15, so that together with these motions and deflections of the balls hitting the diamond shaped projections 37 and the pins or projections 70 or 71, as unpredictable and as random a movement as possible for the balls 20 is obtained before they come to rest in separate pockets 50.

While there is described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that any one of the different features disclosed in the difierent embodiments of this invention may :be interchanged without departing from the scope of this invention, and this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A game comprising: a support, an axle vertically extending from said support, a wheel rotatable around said axle, a plurality of pockets in said wheel arranged side by side in a circle near the periphery of said wheel, a peripheral flange inclined upwardly extending from the outer edge of said circle of pockets on said wheel, radial partitions separating said pockets, a concentric raceway aifixed to said support about said wheel and inclined upwardly from said peripheral flange for receiving a plurality of equally sized balls projected into said raceway to roll therefrom into said pockets in said wheel, and raised projections at the ends of said partitions on the upper surface of said peripheral flange to obstruct said balls and restrict piling of one ball between two balls in adjacent pockets when said wheel is rotating, said pockets having a size relative to the diameter of said balls so that one and only one ball can rest in each pocket.

2. A game according to claim 1 wherein said raised projections comprise pins mounted in said peripheral flange at the outer ends of said partitions.

3. A game according to claim 1 wherein said raised projections are formed integral with said peripheral flange.

4. A game according to claim 1 wherein said raised projections are spaced apart around said peripheral flange at intervals greater than the diameter of said balls, and said projections have a height less than the radius of said balls.

5. A game according to claim 1 wherein said projections extend above said peripheral flange a distance less than one quarter the diameter of said balls.

6. A game according to claim 1 wherein said wheel has fifty-two radial pockets marked corresponding to each of the cards of a deck of playing cards.

7. A game according to claim 1 wherein said pockets have a circumferential width dimension less than twice the radius of said balls, a depth less than the radius of said .balls, and a radial length dimension less than three times the radius of said balls.

8. A game according to claim 7 wherein said pockets have a circumferential width dimension greater than the radius of said balls, and a radial length dimension greater than the diameter of said balls.

9. A game according to claim 1 including a substantially frictionless bearing between the end of said axle and said wheel.

10. A game according to claim 1 wherein said support includes at least one adjustable foot for the leveling of said wheel.

11. A game apparatus comprising: a support base, a wheel rotatably pivoted in said support 'base having a plurality of pockets and a plurality of uniformly sized balls for random location in said pockets; said pockets being substantially rectangular in shape and having a depth less than the radius of said balls, a circumferential width less than twice the radius of said balls, and a radial length less than three times the radius of said balls, whereby only one ball can rest in each pocket, said pockets being arranged adjacent each other in a circle in a horizontal plane on said wheel and separated by partitions, a raceway for said balls atflxed to said support base concentric and contiguous to and inclined downwardly toward said wheel, and projection means at the outer ends of said partitions projecting a distance less than one half the radius of said balls above the horizontal plane of the top edges of said pockets for obstructing the piling of balls between two or more balls located in adjacent pockets when said balls enter said pockets from said raceway while said wheel is rotating.

12. A game apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the circumferential width of said pockets is between about once and twice the radius of said balls, and said radial length of said pockets is between about two and three .timw the radius of said balls.

13. A game apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the distance between the centers of said pockets circumterentially around said wheel is greater than twice the radius of said balls.

14. A game apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said width of said pockets is about 0.9 times the diameter of said balls and said length of said pockets is about 1.2 times the diameter of said balls.

15. A game apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said wheel includes a peripheral flange around the outside of said pockets contiguous with said raceway and" wherein said wheel includes indication means on said flange adjacent at least one of said pockets.

16. A game apparatus according to claim 15 wherein said indication means comprises a light transmitting window, and wherein said game apparatus includes a light source behind said window.

17. A game apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said light source is mounted in said support base beneath said wheel and comprises a ring shaped gas filled tube.

18. A game apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said pockets include holes in their bottoms, and said game apparatus includes a light source to shine light through said holes to indicate which pockets do not contain balls.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,591 Eliscu Aug. 27, 1912 1,069,248 Graves Aug. 5, 1913 1,138,865 Ha-gerty May 11, 1915 1,144,051 Okamoto June 22, 1915 1,534,390 Horton Apr. 21, 1925 1,578,412 Ewig Mar. 30, 1926 2,044,177 McLoughlin June 16, 1936 2,083,540 Armstrong June 15, 1937 2,588,817 Fortner Mar. 11, 1952 2,610,277 Hooker et a1. Sept. 9, 1952 2,811,362 Bareither Oct. 29, 1957 

11. A GAME APPARATUS COMPRISING: A SUPPORT BASE, A WHEEL ROTATABLY PIVOTED IN SAID SUPPORT BASE HAVING A PLURALITY OF POCKETS AND A PLURALITY OF UNIFORMLY SIZED BALLS FOR RANDOM LOCATION IN SAID POCKETS; SAID POCKETS BEIN SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE AND HAVING A DEPTH LESS THAN THE RADIUS OF SAID BALLS, A CIRCUMFERENTIAL WIDTH LESS THAN TWICE THE RADIUS OF SAID BALLS, AND A RADIAL LENGTH LESS THAN THREE TIMES THE RADIUS OF SAID BALLS, WHEREBY ONLY ONE BALL CAN REST IN EACH POCKET, SAID POCKETS BEING ARRANGED ADJACENT EACH OTHER IN A CIRCLE IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE ON SAID WHEEL AND SEPARATED BY PARTITIONS, A RACEWAY FOR SAID BALS AFFIXED TO SAID SUPPORT BASE CONCENTRIC AND CONTIGUOUS AND INCLINED DOWNWARDLY TOWARD SAID WHEEL, AND PROJECTION MEANS AT THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID PARTITIONS PROJECTING A DISTANCE LESS THAN ONE HALF THE RADIUS OF SAID BALLS ABOVE THE HORIZONTAL PLANE OF THE TOP EDGES OF SAID POCKETS FOR OBSTRUCTING THE PILING OF BALLS BETWEEN TWO OR MORE BALLS LOCATED IN ADJACENT POCKETS WHEN SAID BALLS ENTER SAID POCKETS FROM SAID RACEWAY WHILE SAID WHEEL IS ROTATING. 